Friday, July 10, 2009

Fragaria ananassa

High: 72° FLow: 54° FConditions: Sunny.

I'm not going to lie: it's been a hard-fought summer here in Maine. So hard fought, in fact, that it hasn't seemed much like summer at all. At least, not until late this week. On Thursday, the clouds broke--as if by magic--and the rain abated. Mainers--including those who pride themselves on their staid Yankee reserve--were positively ebullient. Total strangers stopped one another in parking lots and famers markets, just for the sake of celebrating the return of the sun and all those things normally associated with a New England July.

Here at caninaturalist central, those things included a return to our annual agricultural inquiry as well. The subject of our study this week? Fragaria ananassa, or the domestic strawberry. Picking them is big business in our house, where we freeze enough to serve as our main fruit source for the year. We were frankly worried about the effects of the omnipresent rain and cold over the last six weeks. And, in truth, it did delay the season and limit overall yields. Nevertheless, this morning we returned with two full flats of our favorite variety, known in the strawberry world as "sparkle."

Something as simple as a smallish berry is enough to make us giddy this year. So much so that our resident pest, Mouse, couldn't even wait for the berries to be hulled before diving in. Taking the idea of "pick your own" a little too literally, she tried to eat the entire box of berries as soon as they arrived (and by "box" we really do mean BOX):

At the ripe age of three, Ari has learned a certain restraint where culinary matters are concerned. And she's developed a seriously discerning palate at that. As we cleaned and bagged and froze and jammed and canned, she remained aloof, watching the process with the removed interest of a well-worn foodie. It wasn't, in fact, until our last batch of jam was complete and fully set that she was willing to imbibe.

The verdict? Summer has arrived in all its ooey, gooey, syrupy splendor. And thank goodness for that.

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comments:

I am not an adventurous eater, (except for that stuff I ate in under the tree today) and I don't care for berries (but my Mom loves them raw!) so she doesn't offer me much fruit anymore. She does say that your box looks yummy though!

I hope the rain only shows up enough to water the flowers and your season is extended into fall, I'm giddy/guilty that I'm in the south and the weather is wonderful!I just wish I knew how to do all that canning stuff...wait...I've got a book...really just need to get off the butt I guess!Thanks Kathryn!

There is nothing so sweet as a wild Maine strawberry in my book. Though tiny, they pack a sweet pucnh! Looks like the jelly times are in full swing. I am considering whether to pick prickly pears and make jelly once again this year. They are all plump and juicy right now but it is so darned hot!

Wow the strawberries look very delicious. I have a bunny before who just love to eat strawberry... She feels so contented already in her rabbit hatch is she has strawberry to eat. It gets so funny sometime when its white fur painted with pink or red color of the strawberry.

What I love about strawberries is that they are ripe and perfect for such a brief time, and then they're gone. A reminder of the transience even of good things, so savor them while you can; and then they come around again, year after year...- - - - - - -Jack@PDBdog beds and more

You can't even use the wooden cutting board in our house without our dogs Huckleberry and Archer waking from a sound sleep to come and get their share. My husband has strawberries on his cereal and they each get one every morning.

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About Me

Kathryn teaches Environmental Writing at Unity College. Bung Ari Jan Gab is an adolescent husky/jindo mix passionately committed to splashing in mud puddles, shredding paper, and proving that everything is digestible. She lives in a log cabin in the foothills of Maine with her human friends, Kathryn and Greg, and two rescue cats. Her current research interests include the ecology of vernal pools, the digestive processes of foxes, and the comings and goings of other dogs.